Realizing Love
by SoundsOfRain8
Summary: Short story of Ferb, Isabella, and Phineas coming to some realizations of their feelings, and expressions of them. Takes place with them older. Pairing: Ferbella


(A/N: This is a Ferbella short fic I wrote. Takes place with them older. Hope you all like it! Comments would be awesome I just recently started liking this pairing, they'd be so cute together! Not that I don't like Phineas and Isabella too though. Anyway, here it is! The italics are just a view of how Ferb feels, a side note.)

"_Hey Phineas! Whatcha dooin?" That cute voice always asked. It was never him…always Phineas._

"What was it you wanted to tell me Phineas?" Isabella asked with a smile as they walked down the street that lead to their neighborhood.

"Oh, I mean, it isn't anything important. You know Brad?"

Isabella's heart sank, "Yeahhh? What about him?"

"Well he told me he liked you and asked if I would ask you about him since me and you are such good friends." He said honestly as he looked at the girl he had known since they were little's face turn from a frown to something else he hadn't seen before. "Why? What's wrong?"

She shook her head, "Oh Phineas, I—I don't like him."

"Oh. Is that all? Nothing to get worked up about. I'll just tell him you—!"

"I have to go!" Isabella managed to yell as she took off down the street. Phineas standing there clueless.

"What did I do?" He said to himself. "Isabella! Isabella come back!"

Running to Phineas and Ferb's backyard she knew she would find Ferb lying in the grass looking at the stars. He sat up though at the sound of her running, mixed with sobs.

"Isabella—!" She ran into his arms and finally let her tears fall fully, crying.

"Ferb! Why can't he—_sniff_—see—_sob_—that I care? He just thinks we're friends! After that whole day together he was just going to ask—" Isabella let out a cry, "ask if I liked Brad! Why would he do that? He doesn't see, after all this time!"

Ferb held her close, his arms around her with his hand cradling her soft black hair. This was no different than the times before. But this was the worst. Ferb held his anger in. His step-brother could be so stupid. After all these years, he's never paid attention to Isabella like Ferb had. The part he wished he didn't have to witness is when she would run to him because Phineas just couldn't see that Isabella loved him. He'd always wonder why she couldn't just ask his brother and get it over with. Then at least she wouldn't have to go through this. But she never could get the courage. So here he was. Holding this amazing, smart, funny, beautiful girl. But because his brother couldn't see clearly, not for Ferb. But for Phineas. It hurt every time this would happen. Isabella would say something to Phineas or ask him to go out with her, and it would never turn out how she wanted. So she would come to him. Talk to him about it. Sometimes he was thankful that he was known for his few words, or he would have a lot of choice words about Phineas, or worse, comfort her like the good friend he was and tell her it was alright, that Phineas just didn't see she liked him yet and what she should do….

"I'm sorry Ferb…you're just the first person I can think of to go to when I feel like this." Ferb's heart clenched. The sad thing was, he couldn't tell her how he felt. He knew her feelings were for his brother, not himself, and risking losing her friendship, to not be close to her; even if sometimes it hurt, would be worse than telling her how he felt. "It's alright. I'm here."

"Thank you Ferb." She said, holding him closer and burying her face in his shirt.

Ferb couldn't stay quiet any longer. He was going to have a talk with his brother. A _long_ talk. He couldn't see Isabella hurt like this anymore.

"Hey Ferb! Want to hand me that wrench?" Phineas asked the next morning, as if Isabella hadn't been crying in his brother's arms all night because he was stupid and clueless.

Ferb handed him the tool and he kept at work. "We need to talk."

Phineas looked up, he knew when his brother wanted to talk about something it was important, but he didn't have an idea what it was this time. "Ok, what's up?"

"You and Isabella." He said flatly.

"What about her? She seemed pretty upset last night. And all I said was—"

"You said nothing!" Phineas looked at his brother, shocked.

"Ferb I—!"

"How could you be such an idiot for all these years? Isabella was crying because of you!"

"She was crying? I didn't—"

"All these years she's been trying to tell you she likes you. And all you've done is make it worse and not see what's right in front of you! I've kept quiet all this time. But I can't see her hurt any longer!"

"Ferb I'm sorry—"

"You're sorry? Don't tell me. Tell the girl that doesn't talk about anyone the way she does you. The way she looks at you. Says your name. I don't even see why! What's so great about a person that can't even see what is right infront of him?"

"Ferb…I didn't know. She never said anything." He said quietly, looking down. Thinking, trying to calculate how he had missed this. But came up with nothing except the few moments he had spent with Isabella alone. He had always noticed her admiration; he never took it for anything else. "…I didn't know she liked me."

Ferb shook his head. "She loves you!"

Phineas looked up, his brother's face was angry; he'd never seen Ferb angry, not like this, and definitely not at him. Ferb had been angry many times before this. He just hadn't showed his brother.

How could Isabella love him? He'd never even known…how could he have not seen it? "She…loves me?" He said it in realization, but also a bit confused.

This made Ferb even angrier. "You need to talk to her." Ferb said, holding back his emotions for Isabella. How could she like someone for so long who didn't even know she liked him? Let alone love. It wasn't fair.

"No." Ferb looked at him in disbelief, ready to yell at him again. "I'm not the one that needs to talk to her…I think you do." If he had not been so overridden with his own emotions right at that moment, he would have yelled more. But then he knew right then, Phineas could see Ferb's feelings, because it had always been them. Ever since their parents got married, it was Phineas and Ferb, invention extraordinaires. No one else had ever really been close to them enough to really know them. Except Isabella.

Ferb walked out of the garage without a word. How could he tell the girl he loved how he felt when he knew she was in love with someone else?

"Hi Ferb." Isabella said quietly the next day as she came up by him sitting in the grass. The garage door open, Phineas working on the invention from the day before. Ferb had stopped helping him altogether. They hadn't spoken since the night before.

She glanced back at Phineas who looked at her but turned away. "You aren't working on the invention?"

He shook his head.

"Oh. I was just coming over to say—"

Ferb stood up. "I told Phineas."

Isabella froze. "Told him?"

"That you loved him." He knew she would be upset.

"What? Why would you do that?" Her face blushed and her hands clenched together to her chest like they always did when she was worried or upset about something.

"He needed to know Isabella. I couldn't see you hurt anymore."

"Wha—what do you mean?"

He looked into her pretty, kind eyes, he hated that they were filling with tears and distress. "He doesn't like you."

"What? How do you know? Maybe he—"

Ferb took her by the shoulders and gave her a small shake, "Isabella! Listen to me! You can't keep doing this. I can't see you hurt anymore!"

"Ferb…." She dropped her hands. Looking back at the garage, she saw that it was empty and her heart sank. Just like it always did….

"I just…It's just always…I've always had Phineas. He's the only one I've ever cared about…." She had always suspected it. But she had always admired Phineas' courage and daring, the way he always included her in their adventures and liked her quick thinking and help. She had always ignored the way he didn't see how she felt, she just thought that he couldn't see, but that one day he would and they would be….

"You are the smartest, most caring, beautiful girl I have ever known. You deserve better."

Isabella looked up at Ferb. No one had ever said anything like that to her.

"Phineas is an idiot. He's clueless to what he's had infront of him all along."

Isabella didn't say anything at first. She never knew Ferb felt that way…he'd always….Isabella shook her head. "No. Phineas isn't the clueless one." It was Ferb's heart that sank this time. She would defend him again? After all this time? Everything that had been said? "I am. Because I couldn't see who was infront of me. It was you Ferb. You have been there for me all along."


End file.
